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More From the Show Floor

For those seeking the latest in boiler and burner technology, the 2005 AHR Expo had a lot to offer — far too much for our boiler expert to see in the one day he had available. At booths he was unable to visit, products of interest included:

PowerStor Series single-wall and stainless-steel indirect water heaters from Bradford White. Featuring super-efficient heat exchangers — a carbon-steel, Vitraglas-coated coil in the case of the single-wall units and a stainless-steel coil, naturally, in the case of the stainless-steel ones — PowerStor heaters provide an unprecedented volume of hot water. Unit sizes range from 30-gal. residential to 120-gal. commercial.

The completely re-engineered line of SKPx5 gas-valve actuators from Siemens. The NEMA 4-rated actuators feature many improvements, including a power-indication light and push-connect electrical terminals. A new high-outlet version, SKP25, with outlet pressures to 20 psi is planned. Siemens also exhibited its LMV52 electronic linkageless burner-management system. Featuring O2 trim, LMV52 can control up to six actuators.

The high-efficiency, fully modulating Rheos+ commercial boiler/water heater from Laars. Rheos+ provides industrial-grade performance for hydronic and volume-water applications, with up to 98-percent combustion efficiency and variability of modulation between 100 percent and 25 percent of input rate. This capability allows the 1200 model to meet heating loads from 300 to 1,200 MBtu and the 2400 model to meet heating loads from 600 to 2,400 MBtu.

With a sealed-combustion, positive-pressure design, Rheos+ can be installed in many environments, including outdoors. It can be vented vertically or through sidewalls. And with NOx levels under 10 ppm and low-CO greenhouse-gas emissions, it is particularly “green.”

OBHSS Series stainless-steel inverted-bucket steam traps from MEPCO. At pressures to 400 psi, these self-priming traps efficiently drain condensate, vent air, and prevent the flow of steam into return piping. With a swivel connector, Model OBHSS-UNIV traps can be mounted in the vertical plane, regardless of the plane of the piping.

Model PS and IPS modular, prefabricated piping systems from Selkirk. Featuring flanged joints designed for both quick assembly and pressure sealing, the systems offer insulated piping components, as well as structural accessories. Expansion joints in both gasket and pressure-tight, all-welded bellows designs are available.

The Circulatic III steam generator from Vapor Power. Available in sizes from 75 boiler hp to 600 boiler hp and pressures from 15 psi to 530 psi, the compact Circulatic provides 5-min startup and high burner turndown. Features include linkageless burner controls, a user-friendly touch-screen interface, a programmable-logic-control system, and a variety of communications options.

A Series power burners from Iron Fireman. Available in sizes from 4.2-MBtu to 25.5-MBtu input, A Series burners fire a number of fuels, including natural gas, LP gas, digester gas, and Nos. 2, 4, and 6 fuel oils. The burner on display was equipped with a linkageless fuel-air-ratio controller.

Also on display from Iron Fireman were four Whirlpower burners. The Whirlpower family encompasses the 100-MBH-to-5,200-MBH-input range.

Ultra boilers from Weil-McLain. Available in five models — the Ultra 80, the Ultra 105, the Ultra 155, the Ultra 230, and the Ultra 310 — the Ultra line features Precision Hydronic Data (PhD), an intelligent system that delivers precision hydronic heating and hot water and maximizes efficiency. The Ultra 155 has an annual fuel-utilization efficiency (AFUE) of 93.0 percent, while the Ultra 230 has an AFUE of 92.8 percent. When used in common low-temperature applications, both have annual efficiencies of 98 percent. The boilers' cast mono block aluminum heat exchanger is designed to operate in low-temperature condensing applications, while their gas-valve, blower, and venturi technology maintains an optimal air-to-fuel ratio at all firing rates.

HM670 and HM680 hydronic manometers from Alnor. Used to balance hydronic heating and cooling systems and check pump performance, both meters can measure and display differential, high-side, and low-side pressures simultaneously, without hose connections or instrument valve settings having to be changed. The HM680 also can display volumetric flow when a Cv factor is programmed and calculate brake power, heat flow, and impeller size. Up to 1,000 data points can be stored for later recall or downloading to a PC.

The CPC-3 controller from Tjernlund Products Inc., which regulates fan speed for perfect draft and/or combustion air for optimum equipment efficiencies. With the CPC-3, there is no need for large combustion-air louvers, multiple vents, or stacks. Additionally, vent diameters can be reduced by up to 50 percent. The CPC-3 can control up to 16 heaters.